Cub Cadet LT1040 drives in reverse, but not forward

[kzimm14]

Hi all,

New to the forum. I have an older LT1040 cub cadet mower. Recently, while mowing some hills the mower quit working in forward. It still works fine in reverse and sometimes I can get it to go forward at very slow speed, but when I try to accelerate it just stops moving. I'm guessing it to be the transmission drive belt, but wanted to see what other thought before tearing it apart as that looks like a bit of effort to change it so didn't want to waste my time if its likely a bigger issue than just the belt.

Thanks in advance.
Karl

[evhevh]

Hi Karl,

Does your machine have a hydrostatic drive or vari-drive? I just worked on a 2007 LT1045 and replaced the drive belt. It still worked but about 1/3 of it had chunks missing. In addition, it had large cracks about every 4". In other words, it was bad.

I would remove the deck and do a visual inspections. That may answer your question. Also pay careful attention to the idler pulley's in the middle. You may have one that is in really rough shape.

[sofasurfer]

My hydro tranny did the same thing. Bought a good used one for $199 and a repair shop.

[kzimm14]

Thanks for the tips. I finally got around to pulling it in the shop today and the belt looked okay. A bit of minor cracking but nothing significant. The belt looked very loose to me, though, so I adjusted the idler Rod a bit. That helped a bit to give it more speed, but it still lurches when the belt gets moving and had no power going up a hill. It also sounds like a loud clunking below the seat so there must be another issue. None of the idler pulley's that seemed too bad from what I could tell.

It is a CVT transmission if that matters.

Any other sugguestions to try? Thanks.

KZ

[evhevh]

I would then check and make sure you haven't lost a spring or have one detached or rusted off. I am addressing your "The belt looked very loose..." comment.

[ironman]

My experience with CVT problems is this:
The CVT manages the speed of the tractor by changing the size of the pulley that the drive
belt from the motor turns (i.e. variable speed pully)

The variable speed pulley (VSP) operates by having a sheave that slides up and down the pulley's shaft, thus changing its size.

What I've encountered is that the shaft either becomes rusted and the sheave doesn't
slide properly, or overheating causes the sheave and shaft to become galled and the
sheave wont slide at all.

If you remove your battery and pull out the battery pan you will see the big transmission input pulley and the VSP on the left.
Set your brake so the the drive belt is loose and you should be able to get some
movement of the center sheave of the VSP with your fingers.